The Truth Behind the Lies
by Black Ice
Summary: Jersey's new friend Sara is more then they expected. Christina really needs to help her, but will the demon get to her first? Part 8is now up!
1. Getting Used to Changes

Christina orbed down to earth and into her former bedroom. She looked through the collections of childhood momentums. Her mother had left everything the way it was before she had died. Nothing had changed. The dirty sock that she had left on the floor was still there. She found this slightly disturbing. Her mother had held onto her to a point where if she had really died, her soul wouldn't be able to rest.   
"Chrissie?" she heard her fathers weak voice from behind her. Her whole family couldn't believe that she hadn't really died, just became a whitelighter. Her father still blamed himself for her first death. She had to be extra careful around him.  
"Dad?" she walked over to him. He placed his arms around her, pulling her into a tight hug.   
"I'm so sorry, Chrissie. It's all my fault."   
"Daddy, it isn't your fault. I'm here to stay, nothing is going to happen anymore. Instead of being a sixteen year old witch, I'm an older more mature whitelighter."  
"But you lost ten years of your life."  
"No, I didn't. I just aged my body, Daddy. I didn't want to be younger then Jersey and Jordan." She heard a ringing, and orbed herself out before they could ask anymore questions. She didn't want to tell him where she was going. Being sixteen in a twenty-six year old body was tough, but soon she would grow used to it.   
  
~~  
"Now, Sara, you don't need to lift things in broad daylight unless there is a demon. You could get found out." Jersey Turner preached to her best friend. Christina had introduced the two a few weeks ago in hopes of getting them to get along.   
"But it's so fun!" the seventeen year old girl giggled. "I can't believe this. I've always wanted this kind of power!"  
"But, your mom is dead because of it, Sara. We love you, you need to learn to control yourself!"  
Sara looked sad at the mention of her mother. Her mother had been a witch with the power of telekinesis and the power to freeze time. She had inherited both powers from her mother. "I know, but it was so tempting…" she was cut off with a glare from Jersey's part. "I know, I know. My powers aren't to be used on my friends or family. Only on the evil demons who are trying to kill me."  
"Look, Sara, my older sister was killed by a demon who looked like my father. I know the pain. You'll see your mother again someday. Just like Chrissie's my whilelighter." She brushed the brown hair away from Sara's eyes. Tears were forming in Jersey's blue eyes as well as Sara's hazel ones. "Your loved ones will always return to you."  
"I know, I just wish I had known where my brothers and my dad went."   
"You never found out?" Jersey asked. It was a common question. Sara had had two brothers and they had disappeared with her father when Sara was seven.   
"No. I'm always going to wonder." Sara looked sad. "I'm so glad you took me in. It's only my junior year in high school. I wouldn't be able to put myself through. You and Jordan are so lucky. You've got loving parents."  
"Ones a half-demon." Jersey stuck in.  
"No, he's not. They fixed that problem. But you've got a family. I've got nobody." the girl began to cry again. "I want somebody."   
"You've got us." Jersey told her.  
"Thank you," Sara blew her nose. "What?" she asked as she saw the horrified look on Jersey's face.   
"Sara! Look out!" screamed Jersey.  
"Oh. My. God." Sara whispered. She recognized the demon who had snuck up behind them.  
"Hello girls. Enjoying the sun?" it asked.   



	2. Memories

Sara looked on in awe. That demon was the one who had killed her mother. It had escaped right before Jersey and Jordan had showed up to vanquish it. It had killed her mother during a huge argument the two had had. Sara looked closely. She could see the burned mark on the side of the demon. Her mother had done that when trying to vanquish the demon. 

_"Sara! Get the potion out of the fridge!" her mother screamed. _

"Mom! What's a potion?" she screamed back, forgetting all the information her mother had given her the night before. She was a witch, with the power of telekinesis and the power to freeze time. Remembering the talk, she felt the anger rise through her. Her mother had robbed her of a normal life. A life without looking over your shoulder to see who was trying to kill you next. "Oh, right," she screamed again. She opened the door and looked inside. The small vial of bright pink liquid was on the top shelf. She snatched it and threw it to her mother, forgetting that she could use her mind to make sure the potion got safely into her mothers' hands. The potion splattered useless to the floor, the vial broken, the liquid seeping into the wooden cracks.

"Sara! No!" screamed her mother. She picked up the nearest lit candle and hurled it at the demon. It howled in pain and sent a bright blue ball of electricity at her mother. Sara watched helplessly as it hit her mother squarely in the chest. Her mother shrieked in pain. The demon laughed viciously and disappeared. Sara ran to her mothers side. 

"Mommy? Are you okay? Mommy!" she screamed. She saw a light in the background. Her friend Jersey appeared along with her twin brother and their older sister. Their dead older sister. She looked in horror as the sister placed her hands over her mother and a bluish light came out of them. The sister looked up at Sara. 

"She's dead," she said.

"How would you know?" Sara screamed. "Get her to a doctor! My mother can't be dead. I need her more then anything. I didn't even tell her I'm sorry!" 

"She's dead, Sara," Jersey put a comforting hand on her shoulder. Sara shrugged it off. "Sara. Sara! Sara!" She looked up suddenly. "Sara, watch it!" she dodged to the side, narrowly missing the bright blue bolt that was flung at her. 

"Shoulda killed you when I had the chance!" screamed the demon. It sent another blue bolt at Sara. Sara sent it back towards it with a twist of her finger. She watched helplessly as the demon disappeared once again. Once again, they weren't able to avenge her mothers death.

"Sara, what happened?" Jersey practically screamed at her. "You can't let your guard down. We were almost killed!" 

"It…it…it!" Sara stammered. She pointed wordlessly towards the place where the demon had stood. "It. It. It. The scar. Burned." 

"You mean." Jersey didn't say anything else. Sara nodded. "We have to tell Jordan and Christina." 

Sara looked on. The memories were starting to surface again. She couldn't handle those memories. They would bring her down.

"Sara, coming?" Jersey yelled back at her. 

"Yeah." They headed out to talk with Christina and Jordan. Sara looked back. She couldn't let those memories come back to haunt her. She just couldn't.


	3. A Talk

"Chrissie!" screamed Jersey the moment they stepped into the house. "Chrissie!" 

"Chrissie!" whispered Sara. "I need you, Chrissie." 

Christina appeared. "What? What is it?" she said, slightly aggravated. 

"Chrissie, we met this demon." Jersey started. "It was the same one who killed Sara's mother." 

Christina looked shocked. "Wow. Did you get a good look at it?" she asked. Sara shook her head.

"What do you mean?" Jersey said to Sara, "It was a big creature with a burned mark on its side. It looked exactly like the one who killed Sara's mom!"

"Is that right, Sara?" Christina asked her.

"Yes." Sara's voice was barely above a whisper.

"Jersey, I think you need to let me talk to Sara for a few minutes." Christina told her sister. 

_"Sara, I need to talk to you for a few minutes," her mother told her. "I need to tell you something very important. Something that will someday save your life." _

"Mom, I'm on the phone with Andrew. He's about to ask me out. Can't this wait?" Sara's impatient voice told her mother. She returned to her phone call.

"Sara, it can't." her mother told her. "Hang up. He'll ask you out later." 

"No. Mom, leave me alone!" screamed Sara.   
"Sara, this is important! Sara!" her mother yelled, taking the phone from her hands with an invisible force and hanging it up. 

"Mom. What just happened?" Her mother didn't respond. "Mom?"

"Sara?" Christina was speaking to her. "Sara?" 

"Oh, yeah. What?" Sara answered.

"You zoned. What's wrong?" Christina asked.

"Nothing." Sara's answer was abrupt and final.

"Ok, then I have some things I need to warn you about." Christina told her. "You can't let yourself become to obsessed with this. I let myself become obsessed with the Balthazor demon. It cost me my life," she said frankly. "Don't let yourself become to obsessed with this. We don't want you to die. And we found somebody." 

"Who." Sara asked. She was hoping they found the demon. They were praying she found the demon.

"We found one of your brothers. His name is Sam and he's living in New York." 

"I know what my brothers names are." Sara put in. "I don't care where they are. I don't even care if they're alive or dead. I don't want to ever see my father or my brothers. They left me and my mom!"

"Sara, you need to meet him. He's been looking for you for years. He said that they didn't leave you." Christina told her.

"But then why would they have gone?" screamed Sara. "They didn't love me!"

"He wants to meet you and soon, Sara." Christina said calmly. "I think it's in your best interest to meet him. He has some important information that you need to learn."

"I don't care. The only thing I care about is avenging my mother. Where is the book?" Sara stormed out of the room where she and Christina had been talking. She walked into the living room. Jersey and Jordan were talking excitedly and flipping pages back and forth. Sara twisted her finger and the book flew towards her. 

"Sar-ah" Jersey said annoyed at her friend. "Don't do that!" 

Sara ignored her as she flipped through the book. She flinched when she came to a certain page. 

"Sara?" Jersey said. "Sara?" Sara looked at her with frightened eyes. 

"My mother." She pointed to a picture and dropped the book. "That one." 


	4. Escape

"Daddy?" Christina called out. She searched the house for her father. "Daddy?"

"Chrissie, what's wrong?" asked her father. He stepped out of his bedroom. The room had always been sacred. The children weren't allowed in and they had to knock to get their parents out. 

"I think something's wrong with Sara. She's falling into the trap, daddy. She's going to get hurt, just like I did. You need to make sure that doesn't happen. Keep an eye on her. Don't let her get to obsessed with this demon." Christina told him. "I have to go. The elders are calling me away to meet a new assignment." She orbed out. Her father stood there, looking slightly amazed. He wordlessly shook his head and headed downstairs to prepare dinner. 

~

"Sara, what do you mean?" Jersey asked her. She looked at the picture being held up by Sara. It looked nothing like the demon who had attacked them earlier."

"That demon. My mother." Sara spat out. She couldn't make her mouth form a complete sentence. "That. Demon." 

"Sara, tell us. What's up with that demon?" Jordan put in. He walked over to the two girls. "That doesn't look like any demon we've seen. Ever." 

"That's not the demon, Sara." Jersey told her.

"But." Sara didn't want to tell them what she was talking about. She couldn't. She had seen that demon before. When she was very little. Seven years old.

_"Sara! I'm it!" her brother Sam screamed out. He chased her across the yard and to the swing set. She climbed up the ladder and started walking across the top of the monkey bars._

"Look at me!" she screamed out. "I'm in the circus!" Suddenly, the bars began to shake under her feet. "Sam, quit it! I'm going to fall!" The shaking continued. "Sam?" She looked down. Her brother was no where to be seen. There was nothing within sight. She twisted around. She saw a small creature on the pole of the ladder, shaking it violently. She screamed. 

"Mommy! Help!" she screamed again. Her mother came running out the door. With a twist of her mothers' hand, the shaking stopped. Sara looked down. There was nothing there. She stepped down the ladder. "Mommy?" she asked.

"Darling, we've got to get out of here," her mother told her. The next thing Sara knew, she was traveling in a new backyard. She was playing with a kitten her mother had bought her. 

"Where's Sam and Stephen, mommy? Where's Daddy?" she asked. Her mother just patted the kitten, calmly. 

"They've left. They're gone, Sara. They're never coming back." 

"But Mommy!" Sara began to protest. "We left." 

"No, we didn't. They've left us. They won't ever see us again. They're gone, Sara. Try to forget them." The little girl began to play again, forgetting. 

"That's the demon who split up my family." Sara was able to tell Jersey. 

"No, the demon who killed your mother was different."

"No, that's a different demon. This demon did something weird. I'll tell you later." She walked out of the room and into the guest bedroom where she was staying. _I forgot them. _ She thought. _I need to get in contact with Sam. _"Christina!" she yelled out. "Chrissie!" But nobody appeared. Instead, there was a knock on the door of her room. "Come in." In stepped Cole Turner, Jersey's father. Sara instinctively backed against the wall. 

"Sara, Chrissie said to tell you she was meeting a new client and that she wouldn't be able to be in contact with you. But she said to give you this," he handed her a note. "I'll leave you in piece." 

Sara walked over to the desk and unfolded the note. She began to read. 

**Sara,**

I guess you're wondering where I am. I had to go to meet a new client of mine. If you've gotten this, it probably means my father has spoken to you. You must remember that we love you and we don't want anything to happen to you. You've got to keep yourself from obsessing too much. I'm going to enclose your brother's phone number. 

Christina

Sara took the strip of out from the bottom of the note. She wordlessly picked up the phone and began to dial.

Miles away, a man picked up the phone. "Hello."

"Hi," said Sara, "This is kind of hard. I got your number from Christina. This is Sara. I'm hoping this is Sam." 

The man on the other end began to weep.


	5. A Meeting

"Sara, is that really you?" the man asked. "I've had so many people call me to tell me that they were you. Is it really you?"

"Yeah." Sara answered casually. 

"I need to see you in person." It was a statement, not a question.

Sara sighed. "Ok, when?"

"Now, meet me at the Corner Coffee, ok?" 

Sara hated that shop, but she decided to go along. "Fine." 

"Goodbye, Sara. I've spent ten years missing you. This better be the real Sara."

"Fine." She hung up. She definitely wasn't looking forward to this trip, but she decided to go downstairs and leave anyway. She pulled her jacket out of the closet and started down the stairs.

"Sara, where are you going?" Phoebe caught her at the door. She looked frightened. Loosing one daughter had been to much for her, she wouldn't afford to loose her children or their friends. 

"Out." Sara said it with a voice that reminded Phoebe of herself. She grabbed the keys to her own car and started out the door. Five minutes later, she pulled into the parking lot of the shop. She stepped inside.

"Sara." There was that statement voice again. She twirled around. The man she saw looked nothing like the boy she remembered. She was about to leave when he placed a hand on her shoulder. 

_"Sara," Jersey placed a hand on her friends' shoulder. "Sara." They both looked in sorrow as they saw Sara's mothers casket being lowered into the ground. Phoebe, Jordan, Cole, Tim, and Christina all stood around her along with Jersey and some friends of her mothers. Sara looked at each of them. She didn't recognize the man in the back. He looked tall, mid-twenties, with hair the exact color of Sara's and the same piercing hazel eyes. She met those eyes with her own and the man turned and walked away. She recognized him slightly, but from where?_

"Sara, you're going to live with us." Jersey told her, gently. "We can help you. Since you're seventeen, they're going to let you live with us." 

"I don't want to. I want to live with my mother." Sara laughed hysterically, "she's not dead. It's just an act."

"She's dead, Sara. You need to come and live with us. We can help you control your," Jersey lowered her voice, "gifts." Sara understood immediately. She looked into Jersey's eyes.

"Ok." She didn't really know much about her gifts. She only knew that she could move things if she really tried to. She waved her hands, just for fun. Everybody stopped moving and froze. Jersey's family stared at her. 

"Unfreeze them, Sara." Tim told her. Jersey knew that she couldn't unfreeze Sara's freezes, so she just stood there, waiting patiently. Sara looked around. The man in the back hadn't frozen. He was staring at her with his cool hazel eyes. Sara quickly unfroze everybody. The man ran.

"Who was that?" Sara pointed in the direction of the man. Jersey turned to look. 

"I don't see anybody." Jersey said.

"You're that man." Sara stated. She took in his hair and his eyes. "You're the man at the funeral. You ran away before I could talk to you." 

"I know. I went to my mothers funeral." The man stated.

"Your mother? That was _my_ mother." Sara stressed. She still didn't believe that this man could be her brother Sam.

"My mother. I guess I've got a lot of explaining to do." The man led her to a table and ordered two cups of coffee. "This is going to take awhile."


	6. A New Story

"I guess you already know that you and mom left about ten years ago," the man started, but Sara cut him off.

"You left us." 

"No. That's the story. Don't interrupt. This is a long story," he began again. "Ten years ago, you and I were playing tag at our house in the backyard….

_"Sara! I'm it!" yelled Sam. He chased her across the yard and to the swing set. She climbed up the ladder and started walking across the top of the monkey bars._

"Look at me!" Sara yelled. Sam looked on at his sister from a distance. "I'm in the circus!" she continued. Sam noticed something at the bottom of the swing set. It was a small creature. It looked like the pictures in the scary book his mother kept. Sam wasn't supposed to look at it, but he had once. He never read the words out loud but the pictures were so cool! They looked like characters from a comic book. He ran inside. From outside, he could hear Sara screaming for Mommy. 

"Mommy?" he asked, but his mother ran outside and the next thing he knew the little thing was gone and so was Sara and Mommy. 

"Daddy?" he asked when his father had returned. "Daddy, Sara and Mommy left. They're gone." His father had laid his hand into his lap. 

"Sam. You must forget them. I am going to raise your brother and you. I'll explain it to you someday."

"I was ten, Sara, I didn't understand. I know now that that 'thing' was a demon and that our mother was protecting you. Five years after you and Mom left, Stephen was attacked by something on the streets. He was twenty. Dad finally explained it to us. It turns out that the three of us are witches. The reason Mom took you away was because you're the most powerful of the three of us. Both Mom and Dad are powerful witches. Dad had the power of deflection. You inherited Mom's powers, I inherited Dad's powers, and Stephen got the power to freeze."

"Where's Dad and Stephen." Sara interrupted.

"Anyway, Mom thought that by taking you away and loosing contact with us, that she could raise you as a witch. Dad wanted us to be normal children. She took you and left and we never saw you again. When I was fifteen and Stephen was twenty, Dad told us about our powers, after allowing us a normal childhood. I'm twenty now. How long have you known about your powers?" Sam didn't bother to answer her question.

"About three months. Where are Dad and Stephen."

"Only three months? You're already attracted quite a few demons. Anyway, I live in New York, and when your whitelighter Christina found me, I came right out to San Francisco to meet you. I've always missed having a little sister."

"Dad. And. Stephen." Sara stated.

"They're dead." Sam whispered, tears coming to his eyes.

"Dead?" Sara asked, astonished.

"That's why I needed to find you. The demon that killed Mom is going after our entire family. And you're next."


	7. A Spell and Anger

"Me

"Me?" Sara whispered. "I've already faced him. With Jersey." 

"You're lucky then. Hopefully, you'll be able to vanquish him. I've been searching everywhere for the spell, and I finally got it," he gave her a piece of paper. It read:

__

Sharaens

Sharaens is a demon of loss, who is hired by a greater evil to rid families of witched. If any family member ever is attacked or killed by this demon, it will continue to kill the members of the family until they are all dead. Sharaens doesn't like to fail, so he will work for many years until each member of the family is dead.

Evil Demon who has killed my family

I wish you gone and with great clarity

I stress that this is done with care

As I hope the demon doesn't fair

A life that was robbed of my family

"It killed Mom. And Dad. And Stephen." Sam whispered to her. "Now it's after you." 

"Why not you?" Sara asked him.

"Because you are stronger. Once he kills you he knows there isn't much I can do to stop him." Sam told her.

"I wonder who the greater evil was…" Sara trailed off. She blinked, remembering that day long ago at the swing set.

"What?" Sam sensed her distress.

"That demon. Did Mom kill it?" 

"Yeah." 

"A sibling of the thing on the swing set. A relative of some sort. Mom must have known that something would avenge its death, so she split up the family in hopes of it not working."

"Now we're the only ones left." Sam told her. "And I just found you, I don't want to lose you again." 

"Don't worry, you won't." Sara told him. She looked at him. "I've always had an instinct to be able to tell if somebody is telling the truth or not. I believe everything that you've said. I need you to come back to my house." 

"You're house?" Sam looked confused.

"I'm staying with Jersey Turner. She and her brother Jordan and the 'power of two' that have been rumored to free the world of evil."

"Any parents?" Sam asked. His face was playful, but he was serious.

"Yeah, their mom's name is Phoebe, she's a Charmed Witch." Sara began, but Sam cut her off.

"Father, Cole Turner, famed Balthazor demon?" he said with a sneer. "Sara, you could get hurt." 

"He's not evil," she told Sam, angrily. "In fact, if anything, he's sad. His eldest daughter was killed."

"Once evil, always evil." Sam told her, "I don't trust him."


	8. He's not evil.

"I've been living there for weeks, Sam

"I've been living there for weeks, Sam. Nothings happened to me. I've seen him about twice. He's busy. If you're going to act like this, I don't want to be around you. I can handle Sharaens myself." With that, she got up from the table and stalked out the door. Sam looked after her in awe. He had been testing her but she had taken it a little too seriously. He needed to know if she trusted automatically. 

_She can't handle Sharaens on her own. _A voice reminded him. _That's why Stephen, Dad, and Mom are all dead. You have to recite the spell with a family member. _

"Sara!" he called after her, but she was gone. He quickly got up from the table and got into his rental car. He drove to the Turner house.

~

"If he shows up, don't let him in." Sara screamed when she got back to the house. "Jersey and Jordan I mean it!" 

"Fine, Sara, what's wrong?" Jersey asked her.

"I just don't like him. He's turning out to be so annoying. He accused me of not being careful." 

"Did you find out who that demon was?"

"Yes, I did. He's after my entire family." Sara told her.

"Then you need him, Sara. He'll kill him if he doesn't kill you first."

"He's going after me first. I'm stronger. But he made me so mad! I can't believe it. He thinks that living with your father is dangerous!" 

"But…" Jersey trailed off. 

_"Sara, I need you to live with my family. They aren't dangerous." Christina told her. "They'll take care of you. They know about your gifts." She heard Sara gasp. "They have gifts too."_

"You mean, Jersey?" Sara trailed off.

"Jersey, Jordan, Phoebe, and Tim are witches. I used to be a witch, until I died. Now I'm a whitelighter."

"What about their father?"

"He's a demon."

Sara gasped again. "Demons can't be trusted. Demons killed my mother."

Christina sighed. "Sara, this demon is my father. I think he can be trusted. He's not a bad guy. Just really feeling guilty about my death."

"But…"

"Sara, Jersey and Jordan are the 'power of two' you've probably heard about." Sara shook her head. "Jersey can freeze and deflect. Jordan can turn himself into anything. If they were evil you probably wouldn't be alive right now." 

"But…" 

"You'll be safe. Phoebe is one of the charmed witches. Tim has premonitions and levitation. I think he just learned how to clone himself," she laughed to herself. "That one will come in handy." 

"But…"

"Sara, trust me. He doesn't use his powers. He's a mortal-witch now, with just the memories of those past evils he committed. You'll be safe."

"Let me finish! I was going to say, but what about my stuff and my room and my life."

"You can't live alone." 

A week later, legal permission was given for Sara to live with the Turner family. She moved into an extra room upstairs which used to be Cole's study. Within another week, she felt as if she had lived there her entire life. Cole was one of the best parent figures she knew. To bad she never saw him.

"Sara, you've got to quit zoning like that." Jersey finally got her attention. "He's here."

"I told you not to let him in the house." Sara told her.

"You've got a hot brother." Jersey ignored her last comment and licked her lips. Sara sighed and got up. She met Sam at the entrance to the house and led him into the kitchen.

"Sara, this is really important. We need to talk," he said.

"I'm listening."


End file.
